Shutters for windows and doors usually have a frame hinged to the window or door opening and rotatable louvres extending across the frame from side to side. A control bar is connected to the louvres. Moving the control bar rotates all the louvres. In this way, the louvres can be titled open for light and air or tilted up or down and closed for privacy.
Shutters have been made in this general pattern for hundreds of years. Usually they were made of wood. It is now practice to make at least the louvres from hollow extruded plastic. The control bar also is usually made of plastic. It is desirable to provide a simple connector for connecting the control bar to each of the louvres. This connector should provide a secure attachment to both the control bar and also to each of the louvres. The connector must also permit tilting of the louvres up or down as the control bar is moved.
Various different connector devices have been used in the past. One such system is shown in U.S. Pat. No. 5,778,598 H. Ohanesian, Jul. 14, 1998. This system uses connectors with a T-shaped member. The T-member fits into an opening in the hollow plastic louvre. It then retains the connector member connected to the louvre. It is also intended to permit rotation of the louvre as it tilts. One of the problems with this system is that the T-member tends to slip into the interior of the louvre. When this happens the louvre can no longer tilt freely. Movement of the control bar may result in damage to the louvre or the connector member or both.
It also produces an unsightly appearance. Another factor is that the connector member must also be installed in the control bar. In the earlier system, this installation was complex and required some manipulation to install it.
Another system is shown in U.S. Pat. No. 6,418,665 A. Gabriele, Jul. 16, 2002. In this system, the connectors were attached to a stick. The stick was then installed in the control bar. This imposed limits on the spacing between louvres. The spacing of the louvres depends on the actual size of the window opening. This may vary. In order to adjust for this, the shutters may have to be made with custom specific louvre spacings. An improved system is shown in U.S. Pat. No. 5,548,925 N. Marocco, Aug. 27, 1996. In this system, the connectors are separate from the control bar. However, there is nothing to prevent the connectors from slipping into the interior of the louvres. It is desirable to provide a connector member which is simple to attach to each louvre and which does not slide into the interior of the louvre and which can be installed on the control bar simply and effectively with a minimum of hand labour and training. Also, the design of the control bar should complement the features of the connector member so that the two work together to achieve the desired result.